Out of all the roulette variations in both land-based and online casinos, European roulette is the most widely played. European roulette has two main things working for it: A) many casinos are willing to offer this variation, and B) the house edge is pretty low at 2.63%. If you’re looking to start playing the most popular roulette game, here’s a look at the European roulette rules.
Rules for European Roulette
– European roulette features a 37-number wheel with just one zero on it. This differs from another popular game called American roulette, where the wheel has 38 numbers and a higher house edge at 5.26%. Since the European roulette wheel has fewer numbers, there are fewer betting options in this game. However, the main exception – the top line bet (5 numbers) – is the worst wager in American roulette, so there isn’t much to miss here.
– When making European roulette bets, you’ll come across two main categories in outside and inside bets. Outside bets are very popular because they enable players to cover a lot of numbers with just one bet. For example, if you make a low bet (listed as 1-18), you’re covering numbers 1 through 18 on the wheel. Contrast this to inside bets, where the most numbers you can cover in a single bet is 6. When making an inside bet, you can place your chips directly on a number, in between two numbers (split bet), at an intersection of three or four numbers (trio, corner bets), or at the end of a line (street, six line bets).
– Most roulette bets have different odds of winning/payouts from each other. Unfortunately, the payouts and odds of winning aren’t listed on the board (except for the column bet’s payout), so players need to study these separate from the game.
– Online European roulette features a fairly easy betting process for players since they merely need to put their chips on the desired bet, and click the “Spin” button; when the bet is over, you can either choose to “Rebet” or “Clear Bets.”
– In casino European roulette, players can place bets up until the dealer tells them that no more wagers can be made (usually right before the ball is about to drop onto the numbered slots on the wheel). When the ball has landed on a numbered slot, the dealer will decide who wins/loses, and pay out the winnings.
